10 Things I've learned in my first 90 days of teaching Early Childhood

I can't believe it's only been just over 90 days since I started my new job. The amount of lessons I have learned in the past three months is amazing... and none of them were mentioned in my Early Childhood Education Textbooks. So, consider this a public service announcement!

1. Go ahead and plan to be sick for the first month of working in the classroom. If there was an available germ, I picked it up!Vitamin C is your friend, wash your hands constantly!

2. Floats and Subs are your best friends. You can not (and will not) survive without them... which leads to #3.

3. If you get a chance to go potty... take it! Even if you don't really need to, just go! You never knew when you will have another opportunity. Like seriously... take them as they are offered to you.

4. If you think you can go to work without wearing makeup, just this one time, forget it. Your kids will notice and call you out. One girl said "You look really sleepy since you don't have any makeup on." Haha, whoops! Point taken!

5. Comfortable shoes > Cute Shoes   I walk 5 miles every day at work, and comfortable shoes are a staple. I'll stick to my cute shoes on the weekend instead.

6. Cheap and free classroom toys are better than expensive ones anyway. Hair gel taped inside ziploc bags are the most sought out toy in my classroom, while my new store bought toys collect dust! Pinterest is overflowing with ideas!

7. Build up your collection of songs, and have them ready. I now have a running list going through my head, but some that I didn't think of before were "I'm a Little Teapot", "Old McDonald" and "BINGO". These come in handy whenever my kids are getting a little antsy in the classroom. I randomly burst into song all day long!

8. You can never have too many sensory recipes on the back burner. Homemade scented play dough and slime are great rainy day activities!

9. You'll never really learn to dislike rainy days until you have a classroom full of kids that need to get outside and run.

10. Even a rough day at a job you love is 100 times better than a good day at a job you hate. Every. Single. Time.